So here's what I've been thinking... given all the discussion we have had so far, what does this mean for testing on texts such as The Things They Carried? Are there always clear answers? Right and wrong answers? Or is every answer right? Let me use what may be an obvious example.
Setting.
What is the setting for The Things They Carried? At first glance, I might say, "Well, obviously, Vietnam." On second thought, though, where do the stories actually take place?
I don't mean the difference between fiction and nonfiction.
What I am thinking about is that the stories are taking place in the mind and heart of someone; that is, there is a narrator who paints the setting for us not simply by stating where he is or where the stories he writes are 'set', but by actually describing in so much detail, in so much sensory detail, that I am inside the author as he tells the story, I see through his eyes, I feel and taste and smell and touch what he does.
It seems as if I am one with the author as I lose myself in his story.
And the story becomes what I experience. I leave my soft, smooth leather chair; leave the incessant chirp of my cockateil; the smell of coffee wafting up beside me and the last bite of my marmalade smeared toast, and I see only what the author's eyes see.
And quick as can be, I can become each and every character in a story, a changeling caught inside the hearts and minds and actions of the author's creations.
Where am I? Not Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. But not Vietnam,either. For me, the setting has become not so much a tangible place, but a place of the intangible, a place that is the characters where my heart and mind exist on a plane that is as real to me as my own skin. The story is set in the characters that I am becoming.
Hmmm....thoughts?
I agree with you, when I read I get into the story. I am the characters and the story is my life. I have many times when I am engulfed in a story and one of my family memebers has to say my name many times before I look up. Is it because we are captured by our imagination. I think so. Just like a movie you are watching you get into the movie and may jump at scary parts or cry at touching parts. We get into our story and become a part of it. I think that is important to express to others that reading a book can take you anywhere you want to be!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ashley. I am the character that is in the story, the one I most relate to though, not just the main character. Reading is an awesome escape and I dont think that testing on novels is always easy or good idea if you choose questions that you are expecting a right or wrong answer too. Instead we could ask reflection questions as an assessment to see what the student got out of the story and to make sure they actually read it. =)
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I am wrestling with is the questioning of students on about a text/ story. If there are hard and fast rules about what setting is, then that suggests that my experience of the setting as in the characters is incorrect. And I think that most people, when asked about setting, would say Vietnam without hesitation.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's easier with the idea of a main character. Who is the main character? Or, because there are multiple stories, who are the main characters? Is it the person who is featured the most, or could it be someone that sits out for me as the main character? There is the classic "main character", but could I claim a main character of my own and still be 'right'?
I think that is what makes this such an amazing book Em. The way the author is able to make us all feel as if we are the character and are there experiencing the whole thing with him! I know I personally am cuaght up in this story and find it hard to put the book down because I can't wait to see what happens in this other life I seem to be living when I am reading.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts everyone, and yes this is a very intriguing book. Testing of this sort of text really has to be the thought process testing. Because, does one have a right or wrong question/answer regarding the meaning behind "separate-but-together." The main character seems to me through the authors eyes. because it is seems like everything is seen through his eyes. The descriptions of the other charaters etc. but those are some pretty interesting thoughts
ReplyDeletePerhaps the main character is the person in the story the individual reader relates to. Yes, i believe that in a proper write up about the book there is one distinct main character, and its usually obvious. However, individualizing stories creates a different view for each reader.
ReplyDeleteSometimes when I read I get so involved in it that I am moved to tears and laugh out loud laughter! I guess I have been manipulated by the author. I've become absorbed and lost myself in the story. I love that! It's a little embarrassing though! I guess the main character would be the one that I pretend I am when I'm reading. The one that the author invites me to become and to see through their eyes.
ReplyDeleteI must say that setting can often be lost for me when considering it in the traditional sense. I know where it is happening, but often I am too involved with the characters emotions to focus on the place or time. Like I said I know where it is, but I am more interested in the characters. When I read I am fully involved in the story. I often get so emotionally involved with the characters, that I must admit I often shed a tear or laugh out (--much like you Kary, but I’m not embarrassed by it anymore, it just helps me enjoy the book more). This book is a little different for me so far though, because there are so many characters that you feel you actually get to know. I’m not sure if that’s how the entire book will continue, because there does seem to be one character that is more focused on (Lieutenant Jimmy Cross). Regardless, I am excited to keep up with the book!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Kamie. The beginning of the book does seem a wash of characters, items, and ideas. Throughout the first chapter, I worried and kept thinking, “When am I really going to get to know this character or that character before he dies so I can make the connection that I need to enjoy this book?” When Ted Lavender was all of a sudden “boom down,” I felt remorse that I didn’t even know much this character yet. However, when I reflect, I feel this is just one of the things these soldiers carried too…did they really know the person next to them before they were “boom down”? I appreciate how O’Brien expressed this feeling without even stating it. Yet, then I wonder if this is just my perspective; am I just reading it differently?
ReplyDeleteYes, Brandi, I felt as if there were too many items and characters to keep up with but felt connected at the same time. I have to admit, I'm not too fond of Jimmy Cross... I think he may be an irresponsible Lieutenant for the time he is going through in his life. I think he is endangering the lives of his men by daydreaming too much.
ReplyDeleteReading this book makes me think of my dad. He is a disabled Vietnam Veteran and he has shared few stories with me from that time and the things he was exposed to was awful. I actually have pictures from both Americans view points and the Vietnamese viewpoints. So the visuals that are created in my mind when I read this book are quite vivid.
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ReplyDeleteNow, after more than half way through the book, I find myself in the mind of TO and many of his senses: I felt like I was the "coward" going off to war after Elroy "sliced" me open; I saw the dainty man with his jaw in his throat; I was the one who received the letter from Norman Bowker's mother saying he was found hanging from the Y's water pipe.
ReplyDeleteThe setting for each chapter seems to become the thoughts of the characters. Yes, Vietnam was the physical setting, but the psychological setting seems to play a larger role. These stories are so raw and mind-consuming that, as readers, we are forced into TO's mind.
@Kary B, I really liked your final thoughts in this post. It made me begin to think about the true setting of these stories, yes, Vietnam is the physical location, but the psychological setting is the one theme that these stories have in common. When we are forced into another person’s frame of thinking it changes how we view or interpret the story. I am like Emily, I get so involved with the text that I forget that I am sitting at home curled up on the couch. My mind is relating to what the characters in the story are experiencing, so everything is constantly changing, including the setting, which to me is more about the psychological tolls, hardships, and sadness these soldiers experience. I can relate to these types of settings more than the physical ones like Vietnam.
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